Low income developments in the Flathead aim to ease housing squeeze

Finding housing in the Flathead Valley has become an uphill battle for many, but amidst the seemingly never ending supply of luxury homes, a few developers and nonprofits are working to meet demand at all income levels with several major projects slated for completion in 2023 and 2024.

For Whitefish Housing Authority Board Chair Ben Johnson, the recent approval of the organization’s plan to build 22 townhomes has been about five years in the making. The formerly city-owned property, also known as the “snow lot,” was eyed as a site for a community benefit project more than 15 years ago.

Identified by the city’s Strategic Housing Plan in 2017 as a top priority for the creation of community housing, the land was donated to the Whitefish Housing Authority in 2020. At its Dec. 5 meeting, Whitefish City Council unanimously approved a preliminary plat and planned unit development for the project.

The project, which covers 1.64 acres, is an 11-lot subdivision with five lots on Railway Street and six on the north property line. These homes will be marketed to households making between 80 and 150% of the area median income, or AMI. The Whitefish Pilot reported the current AMI in Flathead County for a two-person household is $80,444.

Owing to deed restrictions, the homes must be owner occupied — meaning that they can’t serve as second homes. The houses similarly are barred from becoming rentals or used as short-term rentals like AirBnB. The appreciation value is capped so homeowners can build equity in the property and the home’s resale value will be capped, so as to remain affordable to the next homeowner.

The housing authority asked for several zoning and subdivision variances in order to allow for more space, Johnson said.

“The variances are in place so that we can best utilize the space,” he said. “Many of these variances were in an effort to reduce the costs of this development, like smaller lot sizes and reduced setbacks. Economies of scale are one way to reduce the cost of projects like this and maintain a level of affordability.”

The project will pull from tax increment finance funds from the city, fee-in lieu funds from a now defunct Inclusionary Zoning Program and $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, for a total of about $3 million. Johnson said the project also will be funded by the sale of the homes.

Construction is slated to begin in late spring, and Johnson said the highly anticipated project is promising for working class households.

“As we know, housing prices are hardly attainable for many workers in our community,” Johnson said. “The intention of these homes is to target our local workforce … Twenty-two units doesn’t feel like a lot, but the development is huge for community housing in Whitefish.”

ANOTHER PROJECT on the horizon that is aiming to help low income households is Junegrass Place, a 138-unit development on North Meridian Road in Kalispell for people earning 60% or less of the AMI.

Seattle-based GMD Development, a private developer/owner of affordable housing, and Homeword, a Missoula-based nonprofit focused on providing home buying education and building affordable housing, are stewarding the project to completion.

Sixty percent or less of the AMI translates to an annual income of about $38,160 for a household of two people or one full-time worker making roughly $18.34 an hour. The development is expected to include seven three-story “walk-up” apartment buildings and a single one-story community building. Each building will have 10, 12, 20 or 24 rental homes.

According to the developers, the apartments are split into two projects for funding, with one using 9% competitive low-income housing tax credits and one using 4% non-competitive housing tax credits as well as a tax-exempt bond. That combination allows the limited resource of the 9% housing tax credits to be leveraged to create more homes. Junegrass Place received $4.78 million in tax credits from the Montana Board of Housing.

Leasing for qualified households is expected to begin in May and June of 2023, with the first homes available for occupancy by September. The last building is scheduled to be done by June 2024. Prospective applicants can visit the website to see the site plan, basic floor plans and sign up to receive information about leasing at www.junegrassplace.com.

FOR THOSE facing a more immediate need, the Kalispell-based homeless shelter and outreach nonprofit Samaritan House is working on their next project: apartments and single occupancy housing for veterans. The nonprofit already serves between 95 and 115 people at its shelter, which is just down the road from its new location in the former U.S. Army Reserve building. Executive Director Chris Krager said the property sat dormant for eight years. His organization was able to obtain it through the Federal Property Disposal Program, which has prioritized tackling homelessness.

“Probably the biggest value to the whole property is the two acres of blacktop in the backyard that we never use. So, it gives us space to grow,” Krager said.

The Samaritan House’s growth plans focus on the two largest needs in the area. One is affordable family style housing. The second is dedicated housing for homeless veterans. Given that the nonprofit is operating out of the old Army Reserve building, Krager said it’s special they can offer housing for homeless veterans.

Krager said the project is in its very early stages, but construction is slated to begin in spring 2024.

Housing insecurity in Montana is more than just a bad situation, it’s deadly, particularly in the winter. Krager said the nonprofit has seen a significant increase in the local homeless population over the past year. He said Flathead County ranked second in terms of the highest homeless population in the state, just seven people lower than Missoula County, which holds the No. 1 spot on the list.

Rural homelessness poses its own unique challenges with less services and support available for people. But Krager said the efforts underway at Samaritan House are helping nonprofits learn how to tackle the problem.

“We're learning a lot here in the Flathead Valley,” Krager said. “I love it — the people are amazing, the place is amazing and we are learning how to grow and how to take care of the people that are here.”